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My stages of learning to be a socially normal person

(sashachapin.substack.com)
631 points eatitraw | 1 comments | 15 Nov 25 13:24 UTC | HN request time: 0.196s | source
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donatj ◴[17 Nov 25 20:32 UTC] No.45957949[source]▶
> The other day, someone told me, “I can’t imagine you ever being awkward with people.”

I was telling my therapist of several years recently about being uncomfortable with the number of new people I've had to meet recently.

He seemed surprised that I wasn't excited by it all and said something along the lines of "You seem like a very social person, that seems out of character." It struck me… am I really that good at masking that my therapist didn't realize I am absolutely terrified in near all social situations? I have zero idea how to make small talk with people I haven't known for years.

Working from home since COVID has made my social skills so much worse because I don't get the practice.

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1. balamatom ◴[18 Nov 25 10:21 UTC] No.45963370[source]▶
>am I really that good at masking that my therapist didn't realize I am absolutely terrified in near all social situations?

Or is your therapist attempting to bootstrap a self-fulfilling prophecy, i.e. when you feel socially overwhelmed, you'd remember that they praised you for being social, and the warm fuzzies of being praised would make you feel less overwhelmed?

You know, as the grand maxim of software engineering goes, "whatever works" lmao